Friday, September 28, 2012

I'll be at a clinic watching the real "Horse Whisperer" this Friday - Monday! His name is Buck Brannaman and so I will be MIA here at my blog for a few days. But I will come back with lots of horsey photos.

"Everything you do with a horse is a dance". Buck

A Cowboy is a craft, a profession. It is a craft... it's not just putting on a hat and going to some night club to sing karaoke.

Divine debutantes all,
graciously receive guests
with a "How do you do",
praying not to be deflowered
without a crystal vase
to rest their stems.

Margaret Bednar, 4.6.12

This is for Imaginary Garden With Real Toad's - Ella's Edge. The challenge is to keep Coco Chanel's following quote in mind when writing a poem "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." I am linking a poem I wrote earlier this year, so I know some of you may have already read it.

Thomas Jefferson loved to be outside and surround himself with nature. He felt the flower beds would limit the variety and number of flowers he might wish to have, so he came up with the idea of an informal "winding walk" with a narrow border (or ribbon beds) of flowers on each side.

Starting in 1808, by 1812 it had become quite a project with ten foot sections, each compartment numbered and planted with different species of flower. Jefferson did not concern himself with being fashionable and loved the idea of his flower beds being balanced with "the workhouse of nature".

I really enjoyed the naturalness myself, and I love the thought that perennial bulbs continue to flourish 115 years after Jefferson's death.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

hinges squeak
in protest as slowly, heavily
I walk back
one step at a time.

pray a blessing
some day will come my way.

by Margaret Bednar 9.22.12

This is a beautiful gate from Biltmore Estates. A truly stunning place that was built by George Vanderbilt and completed in 1895. (If you click the link there is a short video of this "wonder". I took a tour of the 250 room home and they assure us the servants were well treated. But, the work and toil these women did was daunting to me .... my voice in this poem is of a young woman who, perhaps, dreams her lot in life was a bit different.

Grandfather mountain is a peak in the Pisgah mountain range, which Vanderbilt owned and sold to the Government and is now a National Forest. The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of my favorite places to visit.

These photos are for Kim Klaussen's Texture Tuesday, this week's theme "something orange". I used her Dream It 2 Texture and in PhotoShop I used "multiply" for the portrait and "pin light" for the figure. The poem I reworked from a similar one I wrote over a year ago. The statues I photographed at Biltmore in May of 2011.

I don't have a jar full of written fragments, but I do have a box full of photos for inspiration.

M.Bednar iPhone

The little background: The name comes from the Greek (orkhis), literally meaning "testicle", because of the shape of the root. The Greek myth of Orchis explains the origin of the plants. Orchis, the son of a nymph and a satyr, came upon a festival of Dionysios (Bacchus) in the forest. He drank too much, and attempted to rape a priestess of Dionysios. For his insult, he was torn apart by the Bacchanalians. His father prayed for him to be restored, but the gods instead changed him into a flower.

This is certainly NOT my most eloquent write, I don't like it at all... but I so love this woman and wanted to bring her to the attention of IGWRT's challenge. I hope you learned something and are intrigued. If you haven't seen the movie, "Miss Potter", I found it to be fantastic and I highly recommend it:

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

as Willa Cather publishes "The Way of the World",Roosevelt becomes a Rough Rider,

the Battle of San Juan Hill bloodies history,

Annie Oakley offers McKinely fifty "lady sharpshooters"

George Gershwin is born,

Sherlock Holmes rushes to print,

Russian Czar expels Jews from his cities,

an automobile reaches 39 mph

with braids in disarray,

bosom friends resume recess

a new century
cradled in their hands.

Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, September 11, 2012

This is for Kim Klassen's "Texture Tuesday" Back to School Edition. I used "paper script II" Click on over and see what she is all about... on-line classes and "freebie" downloads. It is a lot of fun!

My grandmother, Marguerite Hutchins is in the center.

I was going to write about their clothes, but somehow the poem became something else. If vintage clothing is of interest to you, please check HERE . It is a fabulous fashion site - I have never come across one with so many beautiful vintage clothes. I have it set for "children's fashion", but you can browse around as you wish.

This is for The Mag #133, photo prompt above - I had a hard time getting a grasp on this one. I do love a rosary and novena every once in a while, but I do have difficulty staying awake! I heard once as a little girl that if one truly falls asleep, it "counts". I'm not certain if good intentions are enough, but I certainly hope so. ;)

a little extra for those who are curious (and I thought this was a pretty good short explanation from Wikipedia):

The practice of saying novenas is not explicitly derived from Holy Scripture, but was rather influenced by an early Greek and Roman custom performed by families consisting of nine days of mourning, then followed by a feast after the death of a loved one.[1]

Palm a poem as if fragile even if the words are bold. Let them sink into your skin as if moonlight, let them flow through your veins until they become ordinary - for only then will we know they nourished.

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Let Life Happen

"What should I say about your tendency to doubt your struggle or to harmonize your inner and outer life? My wish is ever strong that you find enough patience within you and enough simplicity to have faith. May you gain more and more trust in what is challenging, and confidence in the solitude you bear. Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right in any case." (Rainer Maria Rilke) Furnborg, Jonsered, Sweden, November 4, 1904 Letters to a Young Poet